Remembering Jim Rothenberger
Beloved SPH prof. James Rothenberger passed away Dec. 8. He was 61.
“For someone as young as Jim, he had over the years become an institution within the SPH and the State of Minnesota having taught public health to tens of thousands of undergraduate and graduate students since 1969,” wrote Dean John R. Finnegan, Jr.
“As I have traveled around the state representing the SPH, I almost inevitably would hear these words from someone: ‘Do you know Jim Rothenberger? I took a course from him once. He was one of the best teachers I ever had!’”
Read Finnegan's letter to SPH faculty, staff, and students
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Comments
I had the privilege of guest lecturing
as a part of Jim’s Death & Dying course
several times over the years. He was a splendid
human being with a dear sense of humor. We
will miss him very much.
I had the pleasure of taking his Death and Dying course in the Fall of 2007. His passion for the Public health field could be felt every class period. He was very knowledgeable about the subject, had a great way to teach it, had great stories to tell, and had a lot of insights. He surely was a great guy. I will never forget some his lectures and insights.
RIP Professor Rothenberger.
After listening to Professor Rothenberger lecture one day, I realized I was in an abusive relationship with a man who was an alcoholic and drug addict. After gathering the courage to approach Professor Rothenberger about my problem after class one day, he advised me to consider leaving the relationship and to first make sure I was safe instead of trying to save the person I was in a relationship with. Needless to say, leaving that abusive relationship was the best thing I could ever have done and I owe my courage to Jim. Thanks for giving my future a brighter beginning Professor! You will be missed!
Jim Rothenberger was a very talented educator. I was glad to work for him as his secretary for a number of years. He will be greatly missed.
Many of my friends are past graduates of the University. Whenever I mention that I work in the School of Public Health, invariably the next comment is "Do you know Jim Rothenberger?" He made such a positive, memorable impact on students. He was a wonderful man, a tireless educator and will be greatly missed.
Jim Rothenberger made Public Health come alive. I loved every one of his courses. I will always remember his affinity for dead cat jokes, his gift of story telling, and his wise advice to remember death anniversaries as one would for any anniversary.
I attribute my career in public health to Jim. He inspired me to continue this path and I have been on it ever since I was a lost, searching undergrad in '97. I took all of Dr. Rothenberger's classes and was disappointed when I couldn't take any more of his courses as a graduate student in '02. Had I known he only taught undergrads I may not have applied for graduate school.
Thank you Jim for gifting us with your humor, sensitivity, and ability to touch so many of us over the years.
I feel so lucky that my formal public health education started and ended with Jim Rothenberger. As a UMN employee in the 90's, I took advantage of the tuition benefit and enrolled in his HIV/AIDS course. His passion for storytelling made the people behind the disease come alive. For example, I will never forget pictures of orphans he visited in Romania. They were HIV+ because nurses reused needles to administer nutritional suppliments.
Because of his teaching style, I was hooked and enrolled in every course Jim taught. I truely enjoyed each and every one. He encouraged me to apply for the Community Health Education program and became my graduate studies advisor. In January 2008, he served on my committee as I defended my masters project. His sense of humor, love of teaching, and passion for public health will be greatly missed.
Professor Rothenberger was an amazing educator. He was proof that learning is lifelong-- he never gave the impression that he felt he'd done enough already, just showing up to read through his lecture notes. He was non-judgmental and probably saved hundreds of lives just by being himself: approachable, knowledgable, kind and a strong advocate for others. He will be sorely missed but fondly remembered by all of his past students.
I was in love with public health before I knew what it was called. In 1999 I took one of Jim's classes to fulfill a requirement for my undergraduate degree. Jim's wit, stories and teaching style gave my passion a name. Jim's passing is a loss to all who knew him, but the greatest loss will be felt by future public health students who will never have the privilege of participating in one of his lectures.
Allison Rick Thrash, MPH 2001
My first public health course, taught by Professor Rothenberger, was where I discovered not all university professors are alike. Professor Rothenberger was one of the few members of academia truly committed to inspiring students by teaching outside the standard textbook. His innovative style of teaching brought public health alive by having guest speakers tell what it's like living with HIV/AIDS or working incognito to reduce HIV transmission through needle exchange programs. His dedication to introducing the real world of public health to students will forever be missed.
Jim Rothenberger finally died, after almost dying so many times and after living so hard in the periods between his episodes of almost dying. Somehow I thought it wouldn't happen.
For as long as I knew Jim, he had that moon-faced, ruddy look of someone on immune suppressants and steroids. He was sick a lot and you might know it from looking at him, but you'd never have known it from his work and travel schedule, which would have exhausted a far healthier man.
I first encountered Jim in 1986, when I signed up for the entry level course in Community Health that's required of all Education majors at the U, and recommended for those (like me), who were contemplating enrolling in a masters' program in public health. I'd settled in to a seat among the 300 or so in the auditorium, expecting yet another dreary lecture-cum-slide show from some teaching assistant. Instead Jim walked in and perched on a high stool, launching into the first of a seemingly extemporaneous series of stories about the sex and drug habits of first year university students; what they were, and how to alter them. He was hilarious, relevant and vastly well-informed, and he had me at "sex and drugs."
Jim was a teacher in the land of academics, spurned by the establishment of the U because he merely had a masters' degree and had never bothered with the PhD, but awarded nearly every teaching honor he could have won for community service, faculty recognition, and creative teaching. He taught me that to engage people in thinking about public health, all one had to do was to talk about the day's headlines, and that to do something about public health, all one had to do was to act boldly.
He did something alright, in my case, recruiting me to help him create the University's first course on HIV-AIDS, in 1987. This was back in the day when people weren't so sure you couldn't "catch" HIV infection from swimming in a pool or being bitten by a mosquito. The course, an overview designed to both educate and reassure, led the way for more specialized, technical instruction in the schools of medicine and nursing, and was a first salvo in the School of Public Health's slow turning from an almost exclusive focus on tobacco, nutrition and heart disease to a more encompassing roster of issues in infectious as well as chronic disease.
I mostly lost touch with Jim after I finished my masters' degree, but I would see him around every once in a while, and he always greeted me like a long-lost colleague, telling me the latest School gossip and joking about his lack of status. Despite what I learned from Jim, I never felt like a mere student in his presence; his gift was to take people seriously while laughing at life's frequent silliness. He taught me how to teach public health and how to have a healthy disrespect for the status quo, both lessons I am grateful to have learned.
I admired Jim because he had such vast knowledge and experience to share and he shared it so freely. He visited the University of North Dakota on several occasions to provide presentations on alcohol abuse prevention, club drugs and other topics. He offered invaluable technical assistance to the UND Commission on Student Use of Alcohol during the years I served as co-chair. He was highly regarded by many UND students, faculty, and staff members, including me.
We are very pleased to read the comments about our son and brother. He will be greatly missed. We thank you for taking the time to write.
The death of Jim Rothenberger evokes great sadness for all who had the good fortune to work with him in the American College Health Association. It was my privilege as Chair of what was then known as the Task Force on HPV and Other STIs to work with Jim for many years. His insights and expertise were invaluable in shaping and delivering our efforts with education for both health professionals and students. He greatly influenced the quality of our publications and presentations, particularly in regard to the non-clinicians. From working with Task Force clinicians, as a health educator Jim recognized that non-clinicians were receiving erroneous information on HPV Diseases from outside of college health and our efforts were not well pitched to their needs. Out of that awareness we added a session to a number of Annual Meetings designed for non-clinicians and modified many of our other efforts. He knew well the educational needs of these health professionals and steered us in appropriately serving them.
Jim had so much knowledge in multiple areas and was a remarkable source of information. As only one of many examples of that, he had learned that 3M Pharmaceuticals in St. Paul was developing a cream for treatment of external genital warts. This was Aldara. Because of Jim, the Task Force was able to develop a relationship with 3M which resulted in considerable financial support for our educational efforts. Without Jim, this would not have happened.
Jim was a true gentleman. Not only perceptive in recognizing educational needs, he had superior ability in making recommendations which were well crafted and could be accepted without rancor even when they broke new ground or differed from so called “conventional wisdom.�
Jim worked with vigor and dedication. Those who did not know him well would never have even guessed the significant health problems with which he had to deal on a continuous basis for many years.
We have lost a giant.
Henry W. Buck, M.D.
Head of Gynecology Emeritus
University of Kansas
The person, more likely persons, to fill Jim's shoes will face the challenge of their lives. It is unlikely anyone can reach as many undergrads, or as well, and sell them both Public and Personal Health.
What few now on campus may recall is that Jim faced just as big a task when he appeared on the scene. His predecessor, who invented the undergrad program, Stewart Thompson, had been Mister Public Health to generations on campus and throughout the state. It's a tribute to Jim that he measured up and surpassed Stewart in souls exposed and hearts won over.
Jim ruffled my conservative starch at first with his "Banana" demos with condoms and his frankness in dealing with students' private behaviors. But he sold me and showed me how important was this frankness with his alcohol curriculum. I admit it helped when he asked to use an "alcoholic" tune from the Blackburn-Beach Blues Band CD,"Fightin' the Jug" to introduce the program. I was pleased as punch!
As to Jim's story-telling and elocution, much has been said. And few ever displayed such calm courage and devotion in the face of illness and disability to meet his classes and carry his unique load. Of course, the school's administrators new the pile of tuition support he brought our school from the undergrad program.
What a guy!
Henry Blackburn
black002@umn.edu
Jim was my PubH instructor nearly 30 years ago. Jim is one of the few teachers I will always remember. His inspiration and influence encouraged my path in healthcare admin. It is reassuring to know that he is now in an even better position to help us all make the world a healthier place.
Thank you, Jim.
Dear, dear friend. Mentor. Role model. Mild mannered. Kind. Joyous. Serious. Life time learner. Life long teacher. The heartbeat of the University. Jim and I became friends in 1966, during our student government days at the University. He motivated and inspired me, and was the quintessential example of propriety in matters of public affairs. “At thy call they throng, with their shout and song, hailing thee, our Northern Star.�
I had Dr. Rothenberger for Public Health in the summer of 1991. I have thought of what he taught us often over the years. He was, indeed, one of the best teachers I've ever had. He was an amazing educator and I am very sad for all of those who will no longer benefit from his expertise. Rest in peace.
The Executive Board of the North Central College Health Association would like to recognize and honor the contributions of James Rothenberger III to the field of college health.
Jim was an active member of our organization for many years. He has also been highly regarded among the college health community nationally for his significant leadership in a number of areas, including his work with the Task Force on HPV and STI’s and alcohol and drug abuse prevention. His insights and expertise have and will continue to shape and assist in delivering educational efforts for both health professionals and students.
Jim’s numerous contributions have been recognized when he was honored as a fellow by the American College Health Association in 1999 and more recently when the North Central College Health Association awarded him the Gail Proffit Award for outstanding commitment and service to college health.
We are saddened to have lost this valuable and highly esteemed member of our college health community.
I was Dean when Prof. Robert Schwanke and Jim came to my office and suggested that the SPH pick up the teaching of the required drug education course on campus. We did, Jim did, and from that moment his contributions to the School and the State began to grow. After Dr. Thomson's successor retired, Jim took over the hugh task of teaching the required health courses, referenced above. He was fantastic, as indicated. I was at the ten o'clock coffee table at the Blue Water Cafe, in Grand Marais, MN, when we celebrated Jim's 40th birthday.He said, with much emotion, that he had never been certain if he would live to be 40. that is the only time I remember him referring to his many health problems. I always kidded him, saying that if I had ever had half the problems he had the whole world would know. A wonderful, positive man who made a great, lasting contribution to the world.
I was Dean when Prof. Robert Schwanke and Jim came to my office and suggested that the SPH pick up the teaching of the required drug education course on campus. We did, Jim did, and from that moment his contributions to the School and the State began to grow. After Dr. Thomson's successor retired, Jim took over the huge task of teaching the required health courses, referenced above. He was fantastic, as indicated. I was at the ten o'clock coffee table at the Blue Water Cafe, in Grand Marais, MN, when we celebrated Jim's 40th birthday. He said, with much emotion, that he had never been certain if he would live to be 40. That is the only time I remember him referring to his many health problems. I always kidded him, saying that if I had ever had half the problems he had, the whole world would know. A wonderful, positive man who made a great, lasting contribution to the world.
Jim was one of the main reasons for me entering and field of Public Health. His teaching and style have shaped much of my approach and I'm very sorry that he is no longer available for current students.
After over 10 years living in other states, and only recently returned to MN, I was walking through Mayo just today and heard the jazz ensemble and saw the notice of Jim Rothenberger's memorial on the door. I was so saddened to hear of his death. What I remember so well and admired so much about Jim Rothenger, during my MPH (health education) work in 1986-1988, were his egalitarian approach to teaching and student interaction, his refusal to be intellectually conventional, and his passion for life and thought. What a wonderful human being! May he live on in all those whose lives he touched!
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